Birth of the Living God: A Psychoanalytic Study

This is a well-written and accessible--to the layperson--account by Dr. Rizzuto of her study of religious beliefs and how they are formed. Her inquiry rests upon a particular psychoanalytic approach, object relations theory, but her observations are not parochial; their value is not restricted to those who hold to that theoretical position. She reviews Freud's views (negative)on religion and responds to them, out of her own experience with patients. Originally conceived for the purpose of instructing religious educators in the psychological processes that underlie the formation of beliefs--secular as well as religious--Dr. Rizzuto makes clear the importance--once again!--of parents, and other adults, to a child's development toward psychological maturity, sacred and profane.